Beyond
by TJ King
Summary: Two years after the Bane Occupation. John Blake has spent the last few years being the protector of Gotham. But when a new threat rises, the young man realizes he isn't the man who can protect Gotham. John must reinvent himself to become more than the vigilante Batman, but the Legend who criminals all fear.
1. Prologue

**Hello everyone, welcome to the story. This is a remade version of a uncompleted story that I've been trying to write. After a while I had a whole bunch of new ideas that I wanted to try so I started writing again. As of 07/25/2015 there is four chapters up now. I hope you enjoy. Please review, it helps me figure out what I need to do to improve. Enjoy.**

 **PS. I Don't own Batman.**

* * *

Beyond

Prologue

"I'm going to give you this chance to save yourself. Tell me what happened." Called out a voice in the darkness.

A single light flickers on to reveal a beaten and battered man. Tattered bits of his security guard uniform was scattered all across the ground, some soaked in his blood. The man was tied up to a metal chair, with chains that was wrapped all across his body. There was no way to escape for him. He looked around the dark room searching for the voice. "Who are you? Where am I?" he said frantically.

Suddenly the guard felt a sudden pain that started from the back of his neck, which traveled throughout his entire body. The guard cried out in agony. After a few seconds the pain stopped subsided from his neck. But his body still felt the after effects of the electricity that surged throughout the officer's body. The officer was woken from his daze, as the voice yelled at the officer. "THEN LISTEN TO WHAT I SAY, OR IT WILL BE MUCH WORSE THAN THAT! I have zero time for your incompetence, you simple minded baboon! Now… tell me what happened here?!"

"I didn't take any tech!" Catching his breath the guard began to speak. "Someone tripped the silent alarm."

* * *

 _As the guard walkthrough the research and Development floor of the company, they heard a noise and proceeded to investigate the next room. "That's when we saw someone in one of the rooms."_

 _The guard crept into the room they notice a woman in all black spandex suit with a black trench coat on top of it. The man readied his gun and prepared for anything. "FREEZE! Put your hands in the air!"_

* * *

"What happened next?" said the voice.

He stopped as he tried to think what was next but it was hard for him to focus due to the pain that was still reeling from. "She...huh..."

Suddenly a leather glove hand came out of nowhere and began to slap the guard's face trying to keep him concentrated on subject. "Hey, hey focus! I don't have time for this. Tell me what happened or I move from giving you a taser to taking fingers. "

"P-please, I'm t-trying I'm just-" begged the police officer. But at that moment he felt a sharp pain on his index finger as he felt a knife pierce his right pointer finger. A few moments later he looked down at his right hand saw he now had four fingers on one hand. "AHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Now continue the story or next time it's an entire hand! Do you understand?" yelled the voice. The officer only nodded his head violently trying not to upset this man even more. Now with visible tears in his eyes, he continued his story.

* * *

" _Put your hands behind your head!" The woman listened to what the cops said, slowly she lifted her hands in the air not making any sudden moves._

" _Hands over your head now!" screamed the guard. The woman slowly began to draw her hands behind her head until in one fluid motion she turned around and threw two small knives. The knives were thrown with great speed as in seconds it grazed the guard in the neck, the other knife caught the officer in shoulder, immediately causing him to fall to the ground._

 _The guard, who was feeling the pain of the knife in his shoulder, slowly reached for the knife and pulled it out of his shoulder. As he reached for his gun, a boot suddenly placed itself on top of his hand preventing him from grabbing it. The woman grabbed his gun and proceed to point it at the guard's head. She was ready to shoot when the Guard quickly grabbed the gun from her and shoved it toward a different direction. But didn't stop the gun from going off. Causing the woman to drop gun. The guard got up quickly and with knife in hand and prepared to use it as a weapon._

 _The Guard went in for the attack taking the knife in his hand and violently swung at her. But the woman was swift. Dodging every attack the Guard offered. Until she grabbed his arm, and twisted his arm and digging her nails in the nerves of the Guard's arm causing him to drop the stick. This was her opportunity to take him down._

 _In quick movement she immediately punched him to throat, gave three quick punches to the center of his chest, causing him to bend over in pain and fighting to get oxygen back in his body. Finally she did one thunderous knee to the face causing to fall back onto the floor. The woman looks at the man with a smirk on her face. She gently grabs the gun off the floor and shoots his the Guard's leg. Causing him to cry in agony. The woman looked to the window to see the red and blue lights of the GPCD she dropped the gun and quickly fled the room. Leaving the Guard there to blackout._

* * *

"T-then you woke me up. That's all that happened." It went silent. The guard however could feel the tension in the air. He knew that the man wasn't happy with what he just said and the finish of his story. The Guard sat there for a good long minute until he saw a man walking in his direction. The man wore a nice clean pair of black slacks, a dark green dress shirt, a black vest, and dark sunglasses on. The man looked at the Guard dead in his eyes. He then turned away from the Guard and began to speak.

"What a puzzle. Isn't officer? But not to worry." The man looked back at the Guard and smiled. "I'm very good puzzles."

"Please...I told you everything."

The man went over to the guard and covered his mouth with his hand.

"Do you like games?" He said a big grin on his face "I love games. Now, I love all kinds of games. But I think my favorites are Riddles. Riddles are simple and fun. However there is a challenge to it. It's a real cornerstone that very unappreciated." The man leaves from the Guard's sight for only a second. He then returns to the light with a chair for him to sit on. "Answer this one little riddle correctly and I'll send you off. Hell I'll even patch you up! Answer incorrectly well..." he chuckles. "It gets messy in here."

The man leans forward and begins to tell the riddle. "You are a bus driver. At the first stop you pick up 8 people (you already have 3 on the bus). At the second stop you drop off 4 and pick up 12. At the third stop you pick up 2 and drop off 10. What's the bus driver's eye color?"

The Guard was relieved that he knew the answer. He knew that when he said 'You are a bus driver he was referring to himself.' "Brown" he said with no hesitation.

The man smiled. "Wrong. The answer is red."

At that moment the man reached for the Guard's face and forcefully driving his thumbs into the man's eyes. The Guard cried in agony as he felt the pressure of the man's fingers trying to pop his eyeballs. As the man continued his pressure, blood began to pour onto his fingers and as he succeed in job. He let go once the Guard went limp knowing he did his part. He began to look through the Guard's pockets and found his cell phone he began to dial.

" _911 what's your emergency?"_

In a very calmly matter he answered. "I've just killed a security Guard. He's at Wayne-Powers tower, 28th floor, the project development room." CLICK.

It took ten minutes for the police to arrive. There was about 7-8 police officers running through the 28th floor of the Wayne-Powers building as they began search for their fallen comrade. One officer noticed a one of the lights on. The officer went toward the opened door to see a disgusting sight. "In Here!"

From there a swarm of Police officers came in the room and saw the sight. The dead police Guard with stripped naked. Missing a finger, with a stab and gunshot wound, his eyes bleeding profusely and on his chest what was a giant gash in the shape of a question mark. The blood oozing out of the giant wound however, was not the standard red. But a dark green.

Across the street stood the man, with his nice tight suit, he smirked as the ambulances and the TV reporters arrived on the scene. He walked away from the scene nonchalantly. "Let the games begin."


	2. 1

1

Gotham. Considered to be one of the worst places on earth. Crime is high, the people are crazy, and for the past two years it's been called by the public as evil's playground. It's been two years since the Bane Occupation and Gotham has been struggling to pick up the pieces from the takeover. With several criminals escaped from Blackgate prison, more and more gangs have started to appear in the city. But as the gangs have started to grow, they begin fighting for territory. Everyday more and more neighborhoods are being fought over. Tonight is no exception.

A black SUV pulls up to a warehouse near the Gotham docks. Coming out of the vehicle were four large men each of the occupants had a sharp black and white three piece suit. One of the men looked back at the SUV calling out the fifth man in the car. "All clear boss."

The fifth man exiting the SUV was a shorter, portlier man. He was also wearing a suit, but without the vest and tie. He walks in ahead of his armed body guards and heads into the warehouse.

The group entered the main warehouse and inside the saw four other large men all wearing full black suits, the man in the middle however was wearing a white suit, and had a black skull mask over his head. The masked man stood forward. "Cobblepot I presume?"

Cobblepot stepped forward and replied. " **Black Mask**. Let us begin?"

Black Mask nodded his head and one of the men brought out a brief case and opened it to reveal a large sum of money. "That is twenty-five million dollars Mr. Cobblepot. Another twenty-five million will be wired to your account. Take the money and leave stop entering my territories."

Cobblepot only smiled. "You think you can just the buy me out?"

"I don't see why not. I can tell your businessman. If you don't stop poking around. You're gonna make me angry. And I can guarantee that you do not want to cross me. So why start a war over a little bit of territory?"

"It's not about money Mask, it's about dominance."

"Dominance?" Black Mask chuckled. "You have no dominance. None of the guys you've sent to our territories have been successful. All of you've done is give the fish in the Gotham Harbor more food."

Cobblepot was unfazed by his argument. Black Mask continued. "Whatever it is you're trying to do **Penguin**. You are only digging yourself in a bigger hole."

Cobblepot could only continue smiling. "Do you know why they call me the Penguin? You see when I was a child, I had a wonderful fascination with birds."

"Big surprised." Whispered one of Black Mask's men.

Cobblepot continued his story. "I just loved the look of them, the way they lived, the way they flew. But of course kids at school loved picking on the kid that was different. So there was this one kid, who decided to call me the Penguin, just because I was short and fat. I was taunted by that name for my entire life. So one day I decided that I was going to take control of that name. I decided I was going to turn the name Penguin into something that people would fear. I decided I was going to teach everyone a very important lesson. I was-"

"Can we speed this up?" interrupted Black Mask

Cobblepot continued to smile. He raised his hands and chuckled. "Fine I'll get to the point. It's true we haven't been successful in our attempts to claim your territories or take your money. But it was never about any of that. While we attacked your territories we were able to squeeze some information from some of your clients. While you was worrying about your precious territories, you began neglecting your prized clients."

Cobblepot turned to the on his right man who brought out a folder with documents. He turned back and handed it to Black Mask. In seconds Black Mask's body began to tense up. Cobblepot continued. "If you would like the police to obtain the illegal activities of Mr. Sionis." This caused Black Mask to flinch. "I suggest you listen to MY demands."

Mr. One's look turned from smug to angry in mere seconds. "No one will be able to prove this."

"Maybe, maybe not. But I definitely don't think that you will be happy when business starts going away. No one is going to want to deal with a company that is under a police investigation." Said Cobblepot, who smiled back at Black Mask smug smile. "What I want is the fifty million you offered me and you will give up key territories to me, and the rest can go to the infamous 'Black Mask'. Do we have a deal?"

Black Mask didn't saying anything he just continued to look at the document in front of them. He finally looked back up at Cobblepot. "Finish your story." Said Black Mask holding back his anger.

Cobblepot smirked. "I was going to teach them that nobody is going to fuck with the Penguin."

At that moment Black Mask and his men took at their guns and began to point it at Cobblepot. "Guess were going to do this the old fashion way"

Cobblepot was unfazed. Without hesitation he and her men and they drew their guns out and pointed at Black Mask. "I was hoping for the old fashion way."

Silence had fallen on the large group in the warehouse. Both groups had their guns directed at each other. Neither one of them was showing any signs of putting their weapons down. The two leaders glared at each other intently, waiting for the other one to make the first move, a signal, some sort of movement that would lead to their downfalls. When suddenly...

CREAK.

The single soft noise that suddenly crept into the room changed the entire aspect of the situation. Going from a tense filled standoff, to a sudden rush of uncertainty. Which caused all ten people in the room to stop. They began looking around the surrounding area for the cause of the sound.

CRACK! The ten people look to see a couple wooden beams drop from the ceiling fall to the ground. But that wasn't the only thing that fell from the ceiling. Falling down from the ceiling was a black figure that fell in the middle of the meeting. Both Cobblepot and Black Mask stared at the man that was lying in front of them. They each took at their fire arms. "KILL HIM!"

The group fired at that man, but he furiously ran to a metal pillar blocking himself from the gunfire. Both groups began to close in on the man behind the pillar. But then from behind the pillar a small object was thrown. It was a small black sphere with several small silver cylinders coming off the end of it. They all look down at it, then...

BOOM!

A small explosion erupts giving the man a long enough chance to get from behind the pillar and start attacking the men. The man quickly landed several punches to their faces dropping them in mere seconds. The man was cleaning house, man after man were falling victim to this man's furry. But as Black Mask's whistling ears begin to recover, he quickly points his gun at the man. "Who are you?! Turn around now!

The man turns around to reveal a man wearing a black material that looks almost rubbery placed all over his body. He was also wearing a giant cape that hung from his neck to the ground, finally he had a mask on that covered his whole head and face, except his mouth and his eyes, at the top of his mask/cowl he had two horns sticking from the top. This was outfit of the thought dead **Batman**.

"No not you!" cried Black Mask as he starts walking backwards trying get away from the masked man in front of him. "You're supposed to be dead!"

As Batman slowly step forward Black Mask fired his gun at Batman, hitting his shoulder and causing him to collapse. Black Mask slowly walked towards the Batman. He looked at the man, who appeared dead, scoffed and began to walk away. "Just another copycat."

Walking away from Batman, he began to check his surroundings to find that all of his men were down and even Cobblepot's men were down but he had gone missing and the money had gone missing. But the **folder** was still there. But as he began looking for an exit, a strong arm suddenly went around his neck. Knowing full well who it was, Black Mask started flailing around like crazy person trying his best to break free of Batman's grip. He then began to elbow Batman's stomach until finally he let go. Black Mask began throwing wild haymakers, each connected to Batman's jaw.

Batman stumbled backwards, face numb from the punches. He took a long look at Black Mask before yelling at the top of his lungs and charging Black Mask. Mask went in for a punch, but Batman grabbed his arm before connecting. Black Mask threw another one but the arm was caught as well. It was Batman's turn. Batman began with a head butt, which cause Black Mask to stumble. Batman knew he had to be quick, so he began laying punch after punch. Before long Black Mask fell to the floor, head spinning throbbing from the blows to the head. Batman went over to his fallen foe, and with all of his in anger he laid one huge haymaker. Knocking Black Mask unconscious.

Panting heavily, and still fueled by his rage, The Batman began looking at his surroundings ready for his next opponent. But there was no one standing. He had caused so much noise when it was only a simple recon operation. He then looked at his shoulder which was now bleeding, he collapsed on the ground tired and incredibly sore. Batman slowly got back up, rounded up the men, handcuffed them together, and headed his way out. But not before for murmuring a word in his low voice. "Amateur."

While the criminals of Gotham city have been very busy trying to spread their influence throughout Gotham. The Gotham Police Department has been hard at work trying to stop that influence. Ever since their unified fight against the Bane Occupation, the GCPD has been the strongest it's has been in over forty years.

Now with over three dozen cases on his desk Commissioner James Gordon, is back in the endless war of fighting crime to make Gotham safer. Jim Gordon's life the past two years have been one of the busiest in his life. Rounding up stray Blackgate prisoners has put him into overdrive. But of course it has become exceedingly more difficult since the death of his friend Batman. But nevertheless the war continues.

A large cadre of police officers arrived at Warehouse 74, they steadily entered the building to find Cobblepot's thugs, Black Mask's thugs, and Black Mask himself. But his Mask was taken off. Gordon walks up to the captured mob boss. "Roman Sionis?"

"Sir!" One of the GCPD officers walked up to Gordon with the folder in his hand. "Take a look at this."

Gordon took the file and started to flip through it. Inside were a bunch of dirty secrets of the infamous Black Mask. The commissioner looks down at Sionis. "You're in some big trouble Mr. Sionis."

Black Mask didn't say anything. He could only hang his head in defeat.

* * *

John Blake was in pain. This was a difficult night for him. After blowing his cover at the stakeout, getting beaten by a mobster, then finally getting shot. It was not a good night. As he rode the Batpod and clutching on his bullet wound and a bag, with his Batman costume, on his arm he sped to the one place he knew he could be safe, the batcave.

As the motorcycle approached the waterfall that concealed the Bat Cave, he was readied himself for the uneasy landing he was going to have. The Batpod leaps off the ground into the waterfall and lands in the hard cement walkway that had been recently added. Once he landed, John slowly hopped off the bike and slowly made his way to the batcave computer.

"Burning the candles at both ends, aren't we Robin?" said a voice. John looked up to see Leslie Thompkins. She was the head of the Thomas and Martha Wayne Home for Orphaned Children. An elderly woman in her mid-60s. She wore a dress shirt and a long skirt. Had her hair tied up in a bun and wore small glasses. She waited at the computer for John likely knowing that he would sustain injuries. "You always have work for me don't yeah?"

John walked slowly approached the computer and sat down slowly onto trying not to make the damage to his shoulder any worse. "Well gotta keep you on your toes."

Leslie removed John's shirt to reveal a gruesome gunshot wound. "Jesus Robin. What were you doing? Waiting for him to shoot you in the shoulder?"

"It was unexpected. But I took them down and that's what counts. Plus I was able to get the evidence that will take down the Black Mask."

"Then you come back here in this ridiculous cave, bleeding profusely and not even caring about your well-being." Said Leslie.

John smirk disappeared after the last comment. "It's much more complicated from that. I knew the risks when I decided to do this."

"But doing all 'this' doesn't mean putting your well-being at risk." As Leslie took out her medical tools she began digging in John's shoulder try to remove the bullet.

"It kind of does, that's the point of the Batman. OW!" In one quick pull, Leslie retrieved the bullet and placed it on the metal plate next to her.

"Well that may be true." Leslie said as she began collected the gauze together and gently began to wrap it around his shoulder. "But it doesn't mean, Robin Blake has to suffer the consequences of the Batman's activities."

After sewing him up, and wrapping the gauze nice and tight, Leslie helped John up from the computer chair. She looked at John with a concerned face. "I've done my best to be there for you after your parents died; and I understand why you're doing this. You just need to realize that you are not Bruce Wayne. You aren't the Batman everyone thinks you are."

"It doesn't mean I shouldn't try."

"I know, I know. I'm just worried that one day that I won't be able to fix whatever happens the next time you come through that waterfall."

John didn't say anything he just hugged her, feeling the warmth of this woman who has looked out for him ever since his was a kid, he took in the love she offered him and then broke the hug. He looks at Leslie with a reassuring look." I'll be more careful. "

Leslie looked with a smile. "That's all I ask. I've prepared the guest bed for you."

John and Leslie left the Batcave together both tired and beaten from the day.

* * *

 **Apartment**

A woman entered her apartment furious. She wasn't happy. She emptied her bag and pulled out a small device. She began to fiddle with device trying to turn it on. But with no luck. She began to head into the kitchen of her apartment, then she stopped. She felt a presence in the room, but noticed the intruder wasn't moving. She decided to reveal him. "It is was unwise to break into this apartment."

"It was also unwise to steal from Wayne-Powers, tonight. Everyone knows that no one could get through that building undetected. Well...except me." The intruder chuckled. "But don't worry I didn't come here to cause problems, I came to make you an offer."

"Why should I even listen to you?" the woman said as she turned around to face the intruder. "You broke into my apartment."

"It's because I know you're looking for something...Lady Shiva." This caused the woman's eye to widen. "I know you're looking for something precious and I think I can help you. I just need a couple favors and the device you stole."

"Why should I trust you?" asked Shiva.

The Man only smiled. "Well...that a riddle you're going to have to solve yourself."


	3. 2

2

 **Martha and Thomas Wayne Home for Children**

John awoke still in pain from the previous night. He got out of the large bed, slowly trying not to strained himself, and made his way to the living room area of the mansion. A group of kids were watching the news eyes glued to the stories they were broadcasting.

One of the kids, Mark Flores who John had bonded with after the death of his brother, noticed John and immediately ran to him. "John!"

"What's up man?" John said as he hugged him back. "What are you guys doing up so early?"

"More like why are you up so late?" John turned to see a Maxine (Max) Gibson. A young black woman in her early 20s. She had short curly. Light brown eyes. She wore a small white v-neck shirt, khakis that reach to her ankles, and white sneakers. "It's two o'clock in the afternoon. John."

John check his nearest clock and sure enough it was two sixteen in the afternoon. John replied. "What do you know? It is."

"What happened to your face?" asked Max as she walks towards him. "Did you get jumped or something?"

John remembered he had got some pretty good blows to the face yesterday.

"John, on the news they're saying that the Batman is alive!" said Mark as he butted into the conversation.

He played it cool, trying not to raise any suspicion. "Really? He's alive?"

"The boys have been glued to the TV all day." Said Max. As she heads towards the couches were all the boys were. John followed and began to watch what the media were saying about the Batman's so called return.

As Mark turned up the volume of the TV, Everyone's attention turned towards the young TV anchor. " _Good Afternoon. Our top story last night, CEO and founder of Sionis Industries, Roman Sionis was arrested late last night at the Gotham docks, along with eight other men. Police believe they have evidence that Mr. Sionis is or is linked to the Gotham Gangster known as the Black Mask. Mr. Sionis has already made bail, and has not commented on the accusations. Now it is unclear what happened that led to the arrest of these men, but it I believed that these men where in the middle of gang war conflict. But by the time the authorities arrived the men were already incapacitated. One of our reporters was on the scene last night during the arrest that may lead to a shocking revelation on what ended the conflict._

Then the news cut to a young woman with short blonde hair wearing a warm peacoat. " _Hi, this Vicki Vale reporting from Warehouse 74 for WGN, where behind me the GCPD are taking nine men into the custody. One of those men is the Industrial Mogul Roman Sionis."_

As the men are being led out of the warehouse one of the suited gang member began to have a fit. His body violently shakes, the cop who has a hold of him is struggling to hold onto him. The gang member then started to scream loudly. " _He was here! He was here_! _The Batman! The Batman!_ "

It then cuts back to anchorwoman. " _Is the Batman back? It's a question that many Gothamites woke up to this morning. We asked many of Gotham's citizen what they thought about the Batman's potential return."_

The news began to show several clips of several citizens giving their two cents of his return.

" _Impossible. No one can survive a nuclear explosion."_

" _I believe it. Batman is not human if anyone who can survive an explosion like that I'd be him."_

" _Probably just a copycat who got really lucky."_

John got nervous as he continued to watch the news report. He was lucky enough to not have gotten discovered this far. But now that the cat was out of the bag, he was unsure how the criminal climate will change. Suddenly a buzzing sensation appeared from John's right pocket. Realizing it's his phone, he looks at the caller ID. James Gordon. He quickly answers the phone. "Hello?"

" _Blake? I need you to come by the station."_

"What for?" John asked.

" _I'll explain when you get here."_ Blake ended the call and got ready to meet with Gordon. Knowing this was going to have something to do with the Batman.

* * *

 **MCU**

As John was mere blocks away from the MCU, he felt a certain tug coming from his back pocket. Checking his back pocket he notices that his wallet is missing. He checks his surrounding area for a culprit when he notices someone running away from his direction. John was on the chase. Maneuvering through many people trying not to lose the theft, until he finally caught the thief's coat. The thief however was persistent he began getting desperate and he began to hit John. The thief then hits John in the shoulder which causes John to fall to the ground in pain.

Suddenly as the thief runs away from the fallen man, he then finds his face in contacting with a fist. The thief is laid out on the ground dizzy and with no clue what happened. John gets up from the ground to see a police officer arresting the thief. The police officer was a tall black man, with a goatee and was wearing a standard police uniform, with tag that read Jean-Paul Valley. He reached his hand out to John. "I mean since when does John Blake get played like that!"

"I could've took him, Valley." said John he got up off the ground.

"Sure you could've. But you get hit in the shoulder and suddenly you fall to the ground? What's up with that?"

"I'm really sore there right now."

"From what?" As Jean picked up the thief and proceeded to lead him into the MCU

John, was drawing a blank, so he said the first thing that came out of his mouth. "I've been spelunking."

Entering the MCU, John had a nervous feeling in his gut. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was in some trouble. When he entered into the main lobby, he had a familiar feel of what was going on. "So what brings you around my neighborhood man? You're not a cop anymore."

"Gordon called asked me to come down. "

"What for?"

"Not sure. Just hope I'm not in any trouble." said John as he began to look at the hectic work space of the MCU.

"You think it might have something to do with the Batman? Asked Jean-Paul.

"No clue…" John then got distracted. He turned his head towards Commissioner Gordon's office. There he saw what to be an argument between him and a young woman. The woman was about a foot or two shorter than the Commissioner, she has dark red hair that wrapped up in a ponytail, wears a pair of glasses and a police uniform. "Who is that?"

Jean-Paul looked into Commissioner's office and saw the woman that left his office that was head their way. "That's the Commissioner's daughter."

"Really?"

"Yeah, moved down here a month ago. He isn't happy about her coming down to Gotham. No clue why though." Jean-Paul said in a whisper. He then adjusted when the young Gordon began to head there way. "Officer Gordon."

"Officer Valley." Replied the young woman. "Who is this?"

"Old friend of mine."

The former cop extended his hand. "John Blake."

" **Barbara Gordon**." She replied as she grasped onto John's. "What brings you here? Not in trouble are you?"

John chuckled nervously. "I hope not. I'm actually here to see your dad."

Barbara gave a quick smirk before making her way towards her desk. "Well, be careful he's a bit grumpy."

"I'm guessing, it came from you?" Barbara turned back and smiled at John then resumed towards her destination.

At that moment John spotted Jim Gordon headed towards their direction. Gordon turned his direction to Valley first. "Officer Valley, I need you to go to 52nd and Burnside. We have some sort of flasher I want you to clear up."

"On it sir." said Valley as he began to leave, he turned to John Blake. "Good to see you man."

Gordon then turned his direction towards John. "You come with me."

Both men scurried through the halls of the MCU until they reached Gordon's office. Once they were both in the office, Gordon proceed to the lock the door behind them and close the blinds. Gordon was being very thorough to make sure everything was secure for this conversation to take place. After a few moments the two shook hands Both Gordon and John stood for a moment before shaking hands. "It's good to see you commissioner."

"You too Blake." replied Gordon. "So I have to imagine that you know why you're here."

"I guessing it's about Batman."

"Do you know if he's alive? Has he tried to contact you?" asked Gordon.

"No." said John quickly.

Gordon looked visibly upset. "Great. Another copycat"

"What makes you think he's a copycat?"

"I've gotten into contact with both Mr. Fox and Mr. Pennysworth and asked about the possibility of Bruce Wayne's survival. But no luck from either."

John took a good hard look at the commissioner, and could tell he was unconvinced. "But you're not convinced he's dead?"

"I don't believe so. "

"What makes you think that?"

"A couple days after he died I went to the MCU to find his signal fixed, I thought- I assumed that he could have been alive. He's just somewhere out there. Then this happens and I thought he had come back." Gordon went to his window and began to stare at the city. Getting lost in the memories he had made with the Batman. "Look I know you work at the Wayne Manor Orphanage, do you know if there is anything there?"

"I searched that place top to bottom, I found nothing there." Lied John. Slowly shook his head.

Gordon sighed and sat at his desk. "Well that means I got more copycats out there, then I have the Black Mask to deal with, the question mark murder-"

"Question Mark murder?" John said as he interrupted Gordon's thoughts.

"There was a murder at the Wayne-Powers building last night." Gordon handed the folder to John. "The killer called it in and the victim was a security guard, he was stabbed, shot and basically mauled. Guy left a gash of a question mark on the victim."

Looking through the folder he began to look at the gruesome photos of the unlucky cop. "Nothing on video? Fingerprints maybe? "

"We got nothing. Whoever this guy is, he's good at covering his tracks."

"So the trail has gone cold?"

Gordon nodded his head in disappointment. "It looks like it. That's why hoped that he was alive, so he can stop people like him."

At that moment John knew what his next assignment was as he gripped the folder tightly. He turned back to Gordon. As Gordon began leaving his office, he looked at John "I trust you won't be telling or doing anything crazy?"

"Wouldn't dream of it." John replied.

* * *

 **Wayne-Powers Building**

After the Bane Occupation many business went under due to the mass deaths of the wealthy business men. One of those business was none other than Wayne Enterprises. When Wayne Enterprises began to go under, Gotham's infrastructure was in jeopardy. But then in comes Derek Powers, the hungry CEO of Powers Technologies, he took the opportunity to 'rescue' Wayne Enterprises. But essential it was a hostile takeover.

As the past two years had moved on, business was had improved dramatically. With Powers at the head Wayne-Powers had once again become a steady hand in technologies industries. Derek Powers himself was sole dedicated to his work. The man in his late 40s, wore a fancy suit, greying hair, and is clean shaven. Powers was quietly working at his desk when he heard a ring coming from his desk phone. He picks up his phone and answers, on the other line is his secretary. "Yes, Ms. Brown?"

"Mr. Powers, Mr. Nashton is here for your 1:30 meeting." Said his secretary.

"Bring him in." answered Powers.

Mr. Nashton, is a skinny 30 something. He walked into his office with his snug black suit, slicked back hair, and a little stubble on his face. Nashton walks to Power's desk and extends his hands. "Mr. Powers."

Derek Powers gets up from his desk and returns the hand shake. "Mr. Nashton, pleasure to meet you. Please have a seat."

Nashton followed Powers suggestion and sat down on the chair that was in front of him. "Thank you for seeing me."

"Well it's not often that I get people to have a meeting like this. So what brings you here?" Powers asked.

"I'm here about some stock options." Said Nashton.

Powers chuckled. "I don't think I'm the right person you want to talk to about that."

"Oh but you are." Began Nashton. "My clients are interested in the stock that you currently own and would like to purchase it from you."

"I'm afraid that is not going to happen Mr. Nashton. In fact this seems like a very outlandish request. Who are your clients?"

Mr. Nashton reached into his suit jacket's pocket and took out what seemed to be a business card and he handed it to Powers. Powers took a moment to look at the card. In seconds Powers' expression turned from irritation to concern. "I know that, my clients have made other offers to you but you turned them down."

Powers tossed the card back to Nashton. "They did but, I respectfully declined and I told them I would stay out of their way."

"I know you did but, they are in need of your stock and I'm sure you will be properly compensated." Replied Nashton.

"I've spent two years, busting my ass for this company and now they want me to give it up? No, that's not happening."

Nashton leaned forward. "Mr. Powers, you act like you have a choice in the matter."

Powers rocketed out of his seat. "I'm not going to let some would be assassin bully me into submission."

Nashton chuckled. "Oh I'm not an assassin, I'm the strategist. As the strategist I have to look at every possible option and what you just passed on is the option where no one gets hurt."

Powers pressed a button on his desk and in seconds two armed guards came bursting into the room. "Get on the ground!" said one of the guards.

"Tell your clients, that it's in their best interest to leave Wayne-Powers alone." Said Powers.

Mr. Nashton got up out of the chair, calmly buttoned up his suit jacket, put his hands into his pockets and smiled. "I am flora, not fauna. I am Foliage, not trees. I am shrubbery, not grass. What am I?"

"What?" questioned Powers.

""I am flora, not fauna. I am Foliage, not trees. I am shrubbery, not grass. What am I?" repeated Nashton. But it still wasn't clicking for Powers. "Do you need a hint? I am...?"

"…Bush?" answered Powers. "I am bush?"

 **BLAM! BLAM!**

Then bursting into Derek Powers' office was his secretary, Kathy. In her hand is a government issue Desert Eagle, and as she steps into her boss' offices, she immediately fires two shots, both hitting the armed guards killing them instantly. Powers backed away from his desk terrified by what he just saw. Kathy herself though didn't look pleased either. Tears ran down her face, her mascare had been running for some time now. All she could do now was bawl her eyes out. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Powers!"

Mr. Nashton walked over to Kathy and put his arms around her. "Oh shh. It's OK."

"Please I did what you asked. Just please let go of my little boy." She pleaded.

"Oh don't worry I'll let him go. But do me a favor put the gun on the desk for me." Kathy followed Nashton's instruction and placed the gun on Powers' desk. "Did you like the riddle Mr. Powers? I'm just a sucker for a good riddle. Do you know why I love riddles?"

"No." responded Powers.

"Because with the right riddle, you can look like the smartest man in the room. As I kid I needed that."

"Why because everyone knew you were a psychopath!" yelled Powers.

"No, it was because I was the smartest kid and no one seemed to give a shit." said Nashton. "Riddles were the only way to show them who I really was…a genius. A genius who can transcend the world, to make it better. " That's when Nashton's expression darkened. "But do they listen to Edward? Nope."

"Mr. Nashton." Began Powers.

Nashton raised his finger to interrupt Powers, while his other hand went into his suit jacket pocket and pulled out his phone. "It's time to tie up loose ends." He looked up to Powers, do me a favor and kill Kathy for me."

"What?!" cried Powers.

"No." Kathy said quietly. She looked up at Nashton. "Y-y-you promised."

"I promised that your son would live. You however is fair game."

"Oh god." Kathy cried.

Nashton turns back to Mr. Powers. "If you would?"

"No, god damn it. I'm not going to kill her!" yelled Powers. "You want to kill her you do it yourself!"

"I don't like getting my hands dirty and if you don't do it, your daughter will die." Powers then went silent. Nashton continued. "Oh didn't I mention? We kidnapped your daughter about two hours ago."

"You're lying." Nashton then slid his phone to him that showed a picture of his daughter Becky Powers, tied up and bloody.

"Does it look like I'm lying?" asked Nashton.

Powers slid the phone back and then proceeded to pick up the Desert Eagle. "What's stopping me from killing you right now?"

"That would be clever plan but, if I don't call my associate in the next two minutes she'll assume that I failed and will kill her. But it's your choice Mr. Powers." Powers didn't say another word, he raised the gun to Kathy and held his breath. Kathy broke down, she cried hysterically waiting for the end to come.

 **BLAM!**

Nashton raised his phone to his head and waited until he heard a click. "Shiva, keep the girl alive, and start your assault."


	4. 3

3

Leslie Thompskin entered the Batcave once again, believing that John had once again hurt himself. But she was pleasantly surprised to see him sitting at the computer just scanning through several images. The images showed a man and a woman walking through a busy city street. She walked over to the computer screen and stared at the pictures. "It this what you called me for?"

"No, it's another case I'm working on." I John made a few keystrokes on the keyboard and then the pictures disappeared and its place were pictures of the dead security guard from the question mark murder. "I called you for this."

Leslie winced at the gruesome pictures, of the battered and bruised man, much cleaner than last night. "Oh my, what happened?"

"I got this from the GCPD database. This is a security guard was murdered last night at the Wayne-Power building."

How did you get into their database?"

"The computer already seemed to have access to it. I wanted to see if you can find any details the police might have missed."

The doctor went closer to the screen to examine the body, and begin to list through all of the damage she noticed. "Obviously the green blood is interesting; he might compartment syndrome, lactations around the shoulder and chest, bruising on the arm, chest and head, cut on the left side of the neck, and finally eyes severely punctured." Leslie steps back from the computer taken back by the carnage.

"Anything that seems out of the ordinary?" asked John. "Besides the green blood."

"Now that you mention it, look at his shoulder. " John and Leslie began to examine the shoulder. The shoulder seemed to have a small bruise around the laceration caused by the throwing knife. "That bruise looks very odd. It looks like something is hemorrhaging there.

"I'll go see what it is." John got out of his chair and walked over to the rising glass case that contained the batsuit.

"You mean sneaking in to the GCPD?" asked Leslie.

"Don't worry I've been at the GCPD long enough to know how to sneak into that station."

"Robin, you act like it's sneaking into the kitchen to get a cookie. This is a police station, filled with cops who will kill you."

"I'll be fine." He responded as he grabbed the Batsuit and made his way out.

* * *

 **GCPD - Morgue**

It didn't take a great amount of difficulty for Batman to enter the GCPD building, it was not getting caught that was giving him a bit of strife to get through the building undetected. But Batman made it to his destination after he crawls his way out of the air ducts and makes his way through the dark morgue. Batman began scanning the room looking for the right drawer that contains the body. There he saw it, number eight. He opened the metal drawer and there laid there, the dead security guard.

Batman looked down at the pale, lifeless body and started check the hemorrhaging shoulder. The shoulder itself had changed since the picture was taken. No longer was it a small dot, but a large blotched that look like a disease spreading throughout the body. Batman took off his gloves and replaced them with rubber gloves. He then grabbed a scalpel and started to slice his shoulder. An outpour of blood began to flow out of the dead guard's body.

As he navigated through the thick blood, he suddenly felt a piece of plastic. Batman took a small pair of tongs, and pulled out the piece of plastic. He inspects the plastic for a moment trying to identify it and then he realized what it was. Then he heard someone from down the hall. Panicking he ripped of the rubber gloves, grabbed his gloves and ran to a dark corner. He reached down to his utility, pressed a button and then all the lights went out.

"Can't you let me get this file in peace?" Cried one of the voices.

"Just one coffee." Said Jean-Paul. As him and Barbara Gordon open the door to the morgue.

Barbara turns to him and answers his request. "One, my dad would kill you. Two, office romance is such a bad idea."

"A lot of people start relationships from a work relationships." Added Jean-Paul.

"You want a relationship?" Barbara then flicked the lights, but then didn't go on. "Great must have blown a fuse." She then grabbed her flashlight and began to look for the file cabinet.

"I'm not saying I want a relationship. I'm saying-"

"Someone is here!" said Barbara taking out her gun.

"What?"

"Look!" She pointed her light at the dead body. "Someone is snooping around."

Jean-Paul then followed Barbara by taking out his gun and light and the two began inspecting the morgue. Both split from each other and started to check corners. But as Jean-Paul goes for his next corner. Batman grabs Jean-Paul's gun and takes it from him, in a quick movement and pointed the gun at him. Barbara hearing the skirmish turned to the two and pointed her gun at Batman. But she hesitated as she saw Batman pointing the gun at Jean-Paul. "Don't move." said Batman.

"Just keep calm sir." Said Barbara. Then as her light began to shine at Batman's face. She took a moment to recognize Batman's appearance and slowly lowered her gun. "Batman. You're alive."

Jean-Paul looked at Batman still unconvinced. "Batman? How do we know this isn't copycat?" asked the skeptic cop.

"Cause I've seen Batman before and he is Batman." Batman dropped the Gun seeing that Barbara was doing the same. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm investigating a murder."

She checked the body that he was investigating and recognized it instantly. "The one that happened at Wayne-Powers?"

"Yes." He said simply, as he held up a small USB drive. "I found this in his body."

"What is it?" asked Jean.

"A flash drive."

"Our superiors need to see that."

"That is not going to happen." Batman said firmly. The three then began to tense up, knowing that their very brief cooperation was over. As they both prepared for a confrontation, they heard loud banging come from the outside the morgue.

BANG, BANG, BANG!

Several voices cried out in desperation as the more shots rang out. "Shoot her! Shoot her!"

"Looks like this will have to wait." Said Jean-Paul. The three hurried out of the morgue and made their way to the bull pin of the GCPD.

To their shock they watch as Lady Shiva taking down officers left and right. Jean-Paul brought out his gun and turned to Batman. "Who is that?"

"Don't know but she has to be stopped." Said Batman. "Gordon, you and Valley get injuried and get them out of here. I'll take care of her."

As Shiva disposed of another police officer, she suddenly felt a sharp pain hit her back. She reached for the item that was protruding from her back. In her hand was bat shaped shuriken covered in her own blood. She slowly turned around to see Batman. "You dare!"

He stood there with a shuriken in his hand ready for a fight. "This ends now." He said simply.

He made the first move, he first threw the shuriken in his hand, but Shiva was quick to dodge it. He went in for a flurry of quick punches. However all were blocked by Shiva, then she quickly grabbed Batman's arm and violently struck the back of his arm.

Batman cried out in pain as he broke off from Shiva's assault and held onto his arm. From there Shiva began her attack. She began lay numerous punches on Batman as she starts to back him into a corner. Batman fell on the floor in pain.

From there she landed another thunderous kick to the head, and grabbed Batman's arm. She twisted his arm and pulled it until it was on the top of her shoulder. As Batman cried in agony, she took the arm across her shoulder and tossed him over her shoulder landing him on the floor. She quick kicked him in the head, knocking him out cold.

Shiva turned him over ready to give him a killing strike. But then a gun shot rang out and struck Shiva's knife. She turned to see Barbara Gordon gun aimed at her firing shots. The assassin began to dodge the bullets left and right, she made her way to the exit but not before throwing a shuriken at Barbara Gordon. The shuriken zoomed by Barbara only knicking her face, and planting itself in the wall behind her. Barbara turned back to Shiva to see her gone, but quieting beeping could be heard behind her.

"Get down!" cried Jean-Paul as he tackled Barbara, just in time before the Shuriken explodes causing a small explosion. The two get up off the ground and make their way to Batman. They lift him off the ground and make their way towards an exit. "Let's get him out of here!"


	5. 4

4

The next morning John's eyes slowly fluttered as he began to regain consciousness. His vision wasn't focusing properly as looked at his surroundings. He looked around to see a blurry dressers and lamps around him, it wasn't until he started to sit up, where his eyes began to clear up. There a figure stood at the door watching John wake up. As John began to move his body up where he was in a sitting position the man spoke. "I wouldn't move if I were you." John looked at the door and saw Jean-Paul with an angry expression on his face. "You know when we were kids, I remember when we would play that little game of ours. We'd always take turns being Batman. But you'd always push more to be Batman, never thought you would take it this far."

John touched his face, and was horrified to find that his cowl had been removed. Then he looked back to his friend. He felt his heart race at a thousand beats per minute, his sweat fell from his face like bullets. But he didn't know how to start. "What do you want to know?"

Jean-Paul himself didn't know how to start either. This was something he couldn't really wrap his head around. The fact that his old friend was now a crime fighting vigilante. "When did you start this?"

"About a year and a half ago." Stated John.

"A year and a half?" Jean-Paul repeated with a cry of shock.

"Well there was about nine months of that where I was inactive." Began John. "Nasty incident when you don't pack two grappling guns."

"Blake are you out of your mind!" Jean-Paul screamed. "You can't be going around town parading as a vigilante!"

"You don't understand the things going on here-"

Jean-Paul interrupted. "Do you have any idea how insane this is Blake?! "

"Valley, you don't understand-"

"Of course I don't understand! I thought I knew you!" Jean-Paul walked over to the edge of the bed and continued yelling at him. "When you and I joined the force we told ourselves that we were going to help people by the book. We weren't going to be corrupt, and we weren't going to be going outside the law! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"It's not me that's wrong!" shouted back John. He jumped off the bed and started to get into Jean-Paul's face "You weren't there when Bane took over Gotham. You didn't see the chaos and destruction. Only one man was able to stand up that madman to do something about it. But what happened to the cops? They were helpless!" John paused for a moment. Before he began to yell once more. "I was helpless! I was helpless as I watched a soldier blow away the only chance a bunch of orphans like us had to living. I have to do more."

Both of them stared each other down, both letting the tension in the room to reach a tipping point. Then in came Barbara Gordon. "Both of you come see this." The two broke eye contact and watched as Barbara left the room in a rush. "I used the flash drive we found in the security guard and it opened up this."

The two followed Barbara and found her on a laptop looking at the screen that was pitch black with exception of three words color with green font. The three words: _Acetic acid, Cetrimonium Chloride, Ethylparabenl._ John and Jean-Paul looked at the computer screen puzzled at what they were looking at. "What is it?"

"They're chemicals." Said Barbara. The young cop minimized the window with the random chemicals to see various web pages of the chemical's information. "From what research I pulled up, these are ordinary chemicals. But I knew there had to be a connection between this and the murder. Now what chemical concoction could they be used for this murder?"

John started to make the realization. "To make the blood green."

"Exactly. These three aren't just chemicals, they're ingredients for dye." Replied Barbara with a confident smile. "Doing more research I found there is only three companies in Gotham that stock all three of the chemicals. "

Barbara then produced a piece of paper with three local companies, and handed it to Jean-Paul. "Let's take it to my dad. Hopefully we can get some warrants."

John was digesting Barbara's deduction and started to ask himself more and more questions. There were many things that didn't make sense to him, but there was one in particular that kept coming up. "Why would the killer leave this thumb drive?" John asked.

"What do you mean?" Questioned Jean-Paul as he put on his blue police shirt.

"I found this drive in his shoulder, why would this killer take the time to place it in there?"

"Maybe he was on the run, didn't want the info on him." Answered Jean-Paul.

"But why risk getting caught?" asked John. "He would know they would have to do an autopsy."

"Look not all criminals are bright. He just slipped up." Jean-Paul finished getting dressed. "Now were gonna go to work, if you can, please restrain yourself from doing anything stupid. Like dressing up as bat."

John gave Jean-Paul a deadly glare, restrain himself from letting his anger get the best of him. "Hey what happened to my bike?"

"Still at the GCPD. Don't worry we hid it." Barbara stopped for a moment, as Jean-Paul walked out of his apartment, she turned back to John with an uneasy look on her face. "Please don't do anything stupid."

John quickly turned around and grabbed his friend's badge. But in that quick second, he placed what looked like a small dot on the back of the police officer badge. He turned back around and gave it to Jean-Paul. "Don't forget this."

Jean-Paul took it and followed Officer Gordon out the door.

* * *

 **Later**

After a few hours had past and Jean-Paul and Barbara were nowhere near close to finding the question mark killer. They were able to get the warrants to start searching for any leads towards the killer. But after finding nothing at Welzyne and Dracotech, they were starting to get nervous. There wasn't finding anything other than shelves of chemicals.

When they ended their search Quillan Pharma they were once again hit with a cop's hated enemy, a dead end. None of the three companies sold any of the chemicals. It was time for them to go back to square one. Jean-Paul was pissed. He knew they had all the pieces to the puzzle but none of piece seemed to fit together. As he drove back to the station with Barbara, she started to feel the tension and could tell that Jean-Paul's anger was rising. "We'll find this guy Valley. We just need to keep searching."

"They're probably hiding something. We should go back."

"No, they'll just stick to their story." Barbara then thought about John's suggestion. "Maybe your friend was right, maybe he planted it there."

"Oh don't start." Said and irritated Jean-Paul. "Besides what difference would it make?"

"It could make all the difference. It could make the difference between the killer being a lazy criminal or a criminal mastermind."

"OK now you're sounding like John."

"What is your problem with him anyway?" Barbara asked as she gave Jean-Paul a curious look.

"What's my problem? Do you really have to ask that?" Jean-Paul said incredulously. "He is the one dressing like a bat! We told each other that we were never going to go outside the law."

Barbara took a moment to sit and think about what Jean-Paul said. It made her uneasy. She turned to Jean-Paul. "Have you ever thought that the law is the problem not John?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Gotham is a place where the good people can go bad, just like that." Barbara turned her head away from Jean-Paul as she started to get lost in her story. "When I was a little girl, I saw a man, everyone revered and loved, threaten my family then turned a gun on my brother."

"Harvey Dent."

"Yeah, the only one who stopped him was a guy dressed like a bat." As Barbara finished her story, her attention then turned to the events that were unfolding at that moment. "What is this?"

A giant fog was spreading throughout the busy streets of Gotham. Dozens of cars stopped in front of Barbara and Jean-Paul as they began to get out of their cars racing away from the thick fog. Both police officers cautiously got out of their car in hopes to not spark any conflict.

As they walked deeper and deeper into the fog they began to hear the screams of the frighten citizens, echo all around them. They slowly took their guns out of the holster awaiting for any form of attack. Then from the corner of Barbara's eye she sees a shadowy figure, cautiously move throughout the fog. When the figure got closer, Barbara immediately raised her gun. "Freeze! GCPD! Don't move!"

The figure raised their hands, taken back by the sudden ambush, but then after a few moments figure called out to them. "Barbara?!"

Barbara adjusted her glasses and watched as the figure emerged from the fog. Coming out of the fog was Commissioner Gordon, who dropped his hands to his sides after realizing who was pointing a gun at him. Barbara lowered her gun and ran up to her father. "Dad! What's going on?"

"I don't know, it looks like a gas attack!" said Gordon. He turned back to the other officers and began to give out commands. "The gas seems to covering about two blocks. I need you to-"

Then suddenly a sudden the ignition of a loud engine roared behind them. Causing all three to jump, then from the hazy fog a large dark object began barreling out a nearby alley. Nearly running over the three cops. None of the cops could identify the object that rushed by them. But the three of them watched as the large shadow disappeared into the fog again. Jean-Paul stood there and watched as he suddenly realized what the figure was. "Shit." Muttered Jean-Paul.

"What is it Valley?" asked the Commissioner.

"Nothing sir, I just have to go follow a lead I have." Said Officer Valley.

"You're going to have to bury it for now." began Gordon. "We need to make sure this gas isn't poisonous, and we have another problem on our hands."

* * *

A couple hours had passed since the gas attack in downtown and John had successfully made it back to the cave. Immediately John began work on investigating on the chemicals again. He wasn't entirely convinced that the stores would lead to the killer. John began to realize that the killer wanted this thumb drive to be seen for some reason. All he could do was stare at the words looking for the connection. Then he's concentration was broken. "ROBIN JOHNATHAN BLAKE!"

John jumped at the loud yell. He turned around to see Leslie giving John a dagger piercing stare. Leslie started to make her way down the stairs and continued her shouting. "You had me worried sick! I waited on you for hours and you couldn't call to let me know you were ok?!"

"I've been busy." John said simply. He turned his attention back to the screen and continued to stare at the various ingredients.

 _Acetic acid, Cetrimonium Chloride, Ethylparabenl_

"Busy that's all you're going to say?"

"You were right about the hemorrhaging. When I was at the morgue I found a flash drive, in the victim's body." Leslie groaned in defeat. Accepting that she couldn't lecture him at that moment. "This flash drive revealed three different types of of chemicals. Turns out these are ingredients for the dye that turned the victim's blood green."

"So were you able to use the chemicals to lead back to the killer?" Asked Leslie.

"I put a bug on Jean-Paul, turns out the stores they went to, didn't pan out. I just don't get why the killer would place this drive in the body." Said John, but his first statement didn't escape Leslie's ears.

"Wait, you brought Jean-Paul into this?" Leslie asked concernedly.

John did a quick pause, dreading the next words he had to say."He found out. Jean-Paul and Barbara Gordon, rescued me when MCU was attacked."

Leslie turned away from John, with mixed emotions. Most of it was fear and anger. "Are you serious Robin? What if they tell Jim Gordon?"

"They haven't yet." Replied John.

"It doesn't mean they won't!" Leslie started to freak out. "Jesus Robin, this is bad."

John got up from his computer desk and went over to Leslie, and gently grabbed her shoulders. "It's going to be fine. I'll talk to them both and-"

"You are not getting it Robin. This isn't something you can shrug off." Leslie then started to get even more upset. "I don't understand why I let you do this you always had to show off. OK we need to think. If we-"

John stopped listen after she said 'show off.' That was when it started to make sense. The man turned back to the screen and looked at the names of the chemicals. It started to click. "It's not a calling card." Said John as he grabbed Leslie's shoulders again.

"What isn't?"

John went over to the computer and brought up the picture of the victim's body. "The killer he's a show off, that's why he left the question mark. This isn't a calling card, it's a challenge."

This piqued Leslie's interest. "A challenge for what?"

Then John brought the names of the chemicals. "Look at the names: Acetic acid, Cetrimonium Chloride, Ethylparabenl. A-C-E."

Then it clicked for Leslie. "ACE Chemicals."

"Exactly. He's trying to lead us to him." Realized John.

"Ok if this is what this killer wants, how do you know it's not a trap?"

"I can't he has hostages."

"Take this information to Jean-Paul. Don't get involved anymore."

"When will you get it? I'm not that helpless orphan kid anymore." Said John who was raising his voice. "I've been able to stop one of the city's biggest crime bosses. I've-"

"No, you need to listen!" interrupted Leslie. "I'm sorry Robin, but you aren't Batman. You aren't this vigilante. Bruce Wayne was gone for seven years before he came to Gotham. Seven years of training. You have police training, which is barely enough. What you are doing here is noble, very noble. But if you keep going you will end up exactly like Bruce Wayne. "

"Why do you think I'm doing this Leslie?" asked John. He stared down Leslie with eyes as sharp as daggers. "We live in a city where crime and corruption is high, and the people who want to stop that corruption can't do anything. Bruce Wayne was the only man with gull to do anything about it. Now that he's gone who's going to take his place? You?!" John's echo traveled throughout the cave scaring several sleeping bats and causing them to fly away from the sounds. The two stood there in silence, both unable to react John's outburst. John couldn't stay, he grabbed the Batsuit and as he made his way out. "He gave me this suit for a reason and I'm going to use it."

* * *

ACE Chemicals was located right on the edge of the Bleake district, right next to the docks. The large, old, building was 30 stories tall. Just barely bursting into the Gotham skyline.

Batman burst through the gate with the Batpod. The place was abandoned after the occupation, government officials felt it was safer to relocate to a newer plant near Blüdhaven. Leaving the the plant to start it's slow decay. Batman stepped forward towards the planet went the lights flickered on.

Not all of the lights on the building lit up though. Only a few, that cleverly shaped a giant question mark that lit up the front of the building. Batman was in the right place. The front door opened for the rookie vigilante, with the nearest elevator waiting for him.

Batman took the elevator up until it reached the top. The door opened and a large hallway revealed to Batman. The hallway was long and dark; and at the end of it was a small light with illuminating a door. It was obvious the killer was waiting. When batman reached the door, he noticed a small tree blocking his entrance. The vigilante picked up the tree and moved to the side.

He opened the door and saw Edward Nashton waiting for him. "Well, well. When Shiva said she fought the Batman last night, I was unsure if she was telling the truth."

Batman stared back at the killer."Your the Question mark killer."

"I prefer the Riddler." Said Edward. "I was debating either that or Cluemaster. But Riddler sounded more whimsical." Edward smiled at Batman, letting him know that he wasn't let the silent pass for a second, and went back to the task at hand. "So I'm guessing your here for the Powers family?"

"Where are they?" Questioned Batman.

The new christened Riddler clapped his hands; and out came Lady Shiva with both Derek and Becky Powers."Here they are."

"Let them go."

"Sure." Edward said with a smile. "But first a riddle." Edward reached in his pockets and began to smile again. "What weighs six ounces sits in a tree and is very dangerous?"

"I'm not playing anymore of your games." Batman was about to step forward when Edward brought out a small device.

"I was looking for a Sparrow with a bomb." Edward then pressed a button on the device. Unbeknownst to Batman, while he was moving the small tree he failed to notice the small plastic bird. That same bird then exploded, causing the wall between, the tree and Batman to crumble and fall on top of the vigilante. Edward, who missed the debris' blast radius, smiled triumphantly. "Well that was messy."

Edward then turned to the CEO. "Now Mr. Powers, I've been patient but frankly I'm tired of waiting."

Shiva then went over to Becky and pulled a gun to the back of the teenager's head. "Please no!" Cried the girl.

"Don't!" Yelled Mr. Powers.

"So either sign over those shares or Becky here will be joining Batman."

"OK! OK!" Said Mr Powers. Edward then handed Mr. Powers a tablet and told him what he need to do. The CEO pressed his thumb up to the scanner. "There you son of a bitch."

"Pleasure doing business with you Mr. Powers." Said Edward as he was scanning over the tablet.

Shiva then shoved the girl to the ground and was ready to shoot the girl. Mr. Powers started to freak out. "But you said-"

"I lied. You are just a loose end I need to tie up now." Shiva was seconds away from from pulling the trigger. When a bat shaped shuriken then went fly into Shiva's hand causing her to drop it. The evil duo looked up and saw Batman emerging from the rubble.

But Batman didn't get up unscathed. The armor was incredibility damaged. Scratches were everywhere, the cap was practically torn in half, parts of the armor was falling off, and the cowl's upper right half was scorched. This didn't keep him down. He stared at his enemies with an angry scowl. " That isn't happening."


End file.
